Why People Look for Used Goods on 'Danggeun Market' Even When Visiting Local Shops

'BizProfile' Cumulative Users Reach 21.6 Million

Carrot Market, a peer-to-peer secondhand trading service, is emerging as a marketing channel for local neighborhood stores. While users previously thought of Carrot Market only when buying and selling used goods, the number of users accessing Carrot Market to find information about nearby shops has significantly increased. Carrot Market has established a strategy to effectively connect neighborhood stores and nearby residents within local communities, leading to the revitalization of commercial districts.

On the 21st, Carrot Market announced that the cumulative number of users of its in-app service, ‘Biz Profile,’ reached 21.6 million as of last month. This represents a 44% increase from around 15 million users in February last year. Biz Profile is an online space within Carrot Market where stores can promote themselves. It allows local residents to become regular customers and continuously receive updates, and stores can also issue coupons for use in-store. Real-time conversations are possible through chat and other features. This has helped gather information about neighborhood stores that are difficult to find on existing SNS or portals.

Biz Profile Service Screen

Carrot Market launched this service in February 2021. The planning intent was to help consumers more easily find stores in nearby commercial districts. A Carrot Market representative said, "You can newly discover restaurants and cafes that were nearby but unnoticed, and easily find small stores that are hard to locate when needed, such as freight services, air conditioner repair shops, repair shops, and hardware stores."

Biz Profile rapidly expanded as it became known that neighborhood stores could easily manage customers. The number of registered stores was about 290,000 in August 2021, increased to 340,000 by December, and reached 530,000 by July of the following year. As of January this year, there are 660,000 stores. The number of ‘regular’ users who periodically receive store news or event benefit information has tripled to 3 million compared to a year ago.

Biz Profile is gaining attention because it is considered a business that can improve Carrot Market’s profitability. As of January, Carrot Market’s cumulative number of registered users is 33 million, making it worthy of being called a ‘national service,’ but it currently lacks proper revenue sources other than advertising. Operating losses increased to 35.2 billion KRW in 2021. Biz Profile is also not a model that generates revenue by targeting small neighborhood stores. Stores can open a Biz Profile without any separate cost. However, as the number of users grows and it establishes itself as a local commercial marketing channel, various revenue models are expected to be attached.

First, Carrot Market introduced a corporate-only ‘Brand Profile’ that groups franchise companies’ individual branch Biz Profiles, which previously had to be opened separately for each branch. This is a corporate account for Biz Profile that can be operated through partnerships. Baskin Robbins has adopted this. Since the second half of last year, a function has also been provided to not only promote stores but directly register and sell products.

Carrot Market plans to develop Biz Profile into an effective business tool through various tests and feature enhancements this year. Moon Kyung-won, head of Carrot Market’s regional business office, said, "We will continue to serve as a bridge connecting good stores and local residents and create new value for neighborhood commercial districts."